photo by: University of Kansas

The University of Kansas Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kan. is pictured.

The University of Kansas was one of the top 60 universities in the country in terms of creating new inventions in 2024, reaching a new high in the brief history of the National Academy of Inventors report.

KU was 59th in the country in the recent NAI report that measures the number of utility patents that universities receive for work conducted by researchers and faculty members. KU was 94th in 2023 and 65th in 2022, the first year for the report.

In 2024, KU received 36 utility patents, which can be issued when a researcher creates an entirely new product but also can be granted when an improvement is made to an existing product. The report didn’t list the specific patents KU received in 2024, nor did a press release from the university, but KU generally lists its top areas over the years as biotechnology, engineering, therapeutics, digital technologies, education products, and medical devices, among others.

KU leaders touted the ranking as a sign of the school’s continued efforts to prioritize innovation.

“Each of those granted patents represents a new potential opportunity for KU research to have tangible impact, either through the creation of new products or services or the creation of new businesses,” Clifford Michaels, executive director of the KU Center for Technology Commercialization, said in a press release.

While KU’s ranking was a big jump from a year ago, KU ranks near the middle of the pack among Big 12 schools. All but three members of the 16 member Big 12 Conference made the list, with Kansas State, TCU and Oklahoma State missing the cut. Here’s a look at the Big 12 schools that were ranked:

• No. 6: Arizona State, 180 patents

• No. 18: Colorado, 104

• No. 23: Arizona, 96

• No. 34: Central Florida, 68

• No. 36: Iowa State, 60

• No. 58: Utah, 37

• No. 59: KU, 36

• No. 62: Houston, 34

• No. 73: Texas Tech, 25

• No. 80: Baylor, 20

• No. 80: Cincinnati, 20

• No. 86: BYU, 18

• No. 100: West Virginia, 14

The Regents System of the University of California — which is comprised of multiple schools including UCLA, Cal-Berkeley, Cal-San Diego and others — was ranked No. 1 in the country with 540 patents. MIT was next with 295.

KU officials noted that KU ranked 37th among all public universities on the list.